Help! United Club dragons keep trying to tell me I'm not who I say I am.
 

I have the United Club Credit Card through Chase (which comes with UC membership.) I also am UA gold and fly 50-60k miles a year with UA.

Whenever I am flying UA i hand the dragon my boarding pass and I'm good to go to enter the club.

When I'm not flying UA I have been having issues (with one dragon at IAD especially). I was born in 1991. Apperently, when my dad created my UA account in 1993, I wasn't quite 2 years old. Therefore, the dragons claim I am illegitimately trying to fly using my dad's card because this couldn't possibly be my card.

Usually my response is to provide my dad's mileageplus number and name (I'm not even named after him!!) and then sometimes they will let me in.

How do I clear this up?? It is getting so annoying to have to have a 10 minute fight anytime I want to enter the club.. at that point i almost don't even bother going in.

I have 2 reactions to this:

1) Customer service basically doesn't exist in this corporate culture. To question you and verify rule compliance, that is fine and understandable. If anything American culture is more apt to bend rules than many European cultures. But to stand their ground when a reasonable explanation is offered, that requires a certain contempt for the customer. Esp for something that is SOOOO easily verifiable by checking the DOB of the account vs your ID.

2) What kind of customers fly UA such that an agent would be on the lookout for a far-fetched scam? I have seen customers try to talk their way into the club before, that isn't surprising. But how many concoct scams of this complexity?

My suggestion, hand them an ID along with your club card each time and ask them to verify your DOB if they have any questions. If you continue to be hassled, escalate the issue, esp at a club you frequent. Perhaps the manager will add it to their weekly/monthly briefing.

I don't quite get this. Is it SOP for the club dragons to look at the MP join date when entering the club?? Does it even show up for them directly?

johnden, I'm going to start asking them to verify DOB. Great thought there.

tcp1, I know - I just can't understand it. It only happens when I'm not flying UA and therefore have to give them my physical card, so maybe the procedure is different?

I'm not sure why, but I never have to go through so many hoops to gain access to the UA club lounge. I simply scan my digital UA club lounge card through the reader and I'm good to go. They never follow up with any questions or ask me to present them with a ticket.

However, when entering Star Alliance affiliated clubs all of them require the following: Passport, boarding pass, and hard UA Club Lounge card.

If your date of becoming a Mpg+ member is an issue vis a vis your DOB, can't you simply just create a new Mpg+ account and then consolidate your original Mpg+ account into the new one including mile transfer and be done with it?

I'm a paying member. When I show my BP, I get right in, but when I show my card, they ask for ID on top of it. I think this is in case I were to "lend" my card to someone...

Do you have a baby face? It shouldn't be any surprise a 26 year old would have a membership.

You should just be able to give the agent your Mileage Plus number without having to produce the card.

Access by fraudulent means. I'd re-think this ploy.

I think he is providing his dad's info in order to prove that he is not pretending to be his dad - as his dad clearly has his own name and MP membership.

I think what he means is that he provides that information so they can look his father up, realize he is a different person, and therefore know that he is legitimately the customer with rights to enter the club.

OP, first ask them who people say the Son of Man is.

Then, after they answer, say, "But who do you say that I am?"

Sorry - maybe i worded my first post badly.

I am a UC member and UA gold. The dragons keep accusing me of using my dad's card to get in (which I am most certainly not - he is a DL diamond medallion and usually makes fun of me for sticking with UA.) Then I usually have end up proving that I am not my dad. I usually say, "I'm not even named after my dad - Here is his name and MP number to confirm." Then they usually back off.

I just think it is ridiculous and a bit demeaning that I have to carry around all of MY FATHER's MP info to prove that I am not him when I want to access a club.

Exactly

Meanwhile, in the pmUA days, I accidentally discovered that I could book tix for my dad, put in my MP #, and he would earn miles for me and receive my 1K benefits (we have the same first two letters of our first names). :D